# Legacy income up by 9% in 2024, says Legacy Giving Report

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2025/05/14/legacy-income-up-by-9-in-2024-says-legacy-giving-report/
- Published: 2025-05-14T14:10:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The Legacy Giving Report 2025 reveals that legacy income for charities increased
by 9% in 2024, compared to 1.3% growth in 2023. Total legacy income for last year
reached £4.5 billion.**

According to the report, legacy gifts now constitute an average of 30% of fundraising
income across the top 1,000 charities that received legacies. In some cases – animal,
conservation and disability charities – this figure was as high as 50%.

One of the main reasons for the substantial growth in 2024 was a **15% rise** in
charitable bequests. This was largely due to HM Courts & Tribunals Service successfully
clearing a longstanding backlog of probate applications. Bequest numbers in the 
year reached an estimated **145,000**: this is the highest ever recorded.

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![Cover of The Legacy Giving Report 2025, with Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford's 
logos at the bottom](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2025/05/Legacy-Giving-
Report-2025-cover.png)

The Legacy Giving Report 2025

The [Legacy Giving Report 2025](https://smeeandford.com/reports-whitepapers/legacy-giving-report-2025-smee-ford-and-legacy-futures/)
is the first report of its kind from the partnership between [Smee & Ford](http://www.smeeandford.com)
and [Legacy Futures](http://www.legacyfutures.com). It is designed to offer the “
most comprehensive legacy data and market review” available to support charities
of all sizes, so is published at no charge. It features statistics, case studies
and projections.

## Key findings of The Legacy Report

The report reveals that:

 * charitable estates rose 22% from previous year, reaching 46,000.
 * the average estate size for those leaving a charitable gift was **£599,000**,
   compared to **£394,000** for non-charitable estates. 
 * Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) now make up **21%** of all legators and “are set
   to dominate legacy giving by 2035”. 
 * the average gift values reached **£65,000** for residual gifts.
 * the average gift values for pecuniary gifts were **£4,500**. 
 * The **South Coast** and **London **remain the strongest regions for charitable
   bequests, with nearly **18% **of probated estates in the South Coast containing
   a legacy gift. 
 * the legacy market is forecasted to reach £5.1 billion by 2030 and £10.2 billion
   by 2050

![Legacy superbrands. Chart shows the top performing charities in terms of legacy
income. Source: The Legacy Research Report 2025](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2025/05/image-2.png)

The top charities by legacy income in 2024. Legacy Futures analysis of Charity Commission
information. Copyright 2025: Smee & Ford

## Trends and opportunities

The report also explores the impact of upcoming changes to inheritance tax rules
and highlights opportunities for charities to engage supporters who may be motivated
to leave a charitable gift for this reason.

Rob Cope, Executive Director Membership & Operations at CIOF, said of the report:

> “It is also an excellent example of agencies working together to provide, for 
> free, the kind of unique data and insight that can help charities grow and thrive,
> something the Chartered Institute of Fundraising is pleased to encourage and support.”

Ashley Rowthorn, Executive Director of Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford, added:  

> “This report represents an important step in improving our shared understanding
> of the legacy giving landscape. By bringing together data, analysis and real-world
> examples, we hope it will help charities of all sizes to better navigate current
> challenges and plan for the future”. 

_[The Legacy Giving Report](https://smeeandford.com/reports-whitepapers/legacy-giving-report-2025-smee-ford-and-legacy-futures/)
_can be downloaded for free.  

##  Legacy Futures’ Data Dashboard

A helpful and free source of data is Legacy Futures’ [Data Dashboard,](https://www.legacyfutures.com/resources/data-dashboard/)****
which describes the size and shape of gifts in wills in the UK, and how legacy incomes
have grown over the past 30 years.